You could build those observation tools into your otherwise relatively simple board. A CPLD and some buffer RAM, together with some USB hardware, could build a logic analyzer and/or oscilloscope right into your board.

A relatively simple sampling circuit can be built into a modest-size FPGA or even CPLD that lives right on the board with your MCU. With some attendant PC-based software you'll be able to display the samples in a logical way, using, perhaps, a simulator such as ModelSim as an example of how to manage the display and as a feature set, and the controls for such a device can be pretty basic. Since you know what the device under observation, your trigger logic can be tailored to it.

That would be really powerful learning tool! It also eliminates the need for all those nasty connectors, pods, probes, and physical terminations, which are a big part of the cost of a logic analyzer.

This would make tools normally not used by the newbie until he's got lots of whiskers with the 805x available from day 1! He/she could see everyting external. That, BTW, is another reason I suggest that NMIY-0031 board, as it uses external code and data memory, making everything significant to a process externally visible.

Imagine how nicely you could discuss Async comm's, IIC, or SPI or any other signalling protocol if you could have the learner observe it!

RE